Jeff Emig, a six-time member of Team USA at the Motocross of Nations, has been earning his frequent flyer miles lately. In his brand ambassador role with Husqvarna, he found himself racing in the mud on a variety of bikes over the last few weekends, and is now headed back to Europe for this weekend’s edition of the MXoN, where he will be in the television announcer’s booth alongside Paul Malin, who Fro once battled at this very race!
We caught Jeff between flights on a Tuesday morning in Heathrow airport. Here’s his story of his last few racing forays, and some thoughts on the weekend.
Racer X: Fro! Let’s start with the Vets des Nations. How was it riding on a 500 in the mud?
Jeff Emig: I actually didn’t ride a 500. I rode a 1983 air-cooled 500 that was bored out to 570.
[Laughs] Oh, okay then I have my information wrong. Not a 500. A 570!
[Laughs] Yes sir. That’s what I heard. And then in the Evo class I rode an all-original, stock, water-cooled, 510 Husky four-stroke. Some of the newer bikes had rear disc brakes and stuff and mine didn’t, and especially in the Evo class, some of the bikes the guys win on are pretty well set up. Riding any bike that is totally original like the one I was on puts you at a disadvantage. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it!
And the conditions, I heard they weren’t ideal either.
Well, I didn’t even get to ride the bike until the five laps of qualifying practice that I got, and that determines your gate pick out of 60 riders. So one gate pick was 20th and the other was 28th, and the way the gates work, it’s one of those where first gate pick goes inside and everyone else just moves to the right after that. The fact that I was able to get a holeshot in the end in the two-stroke class was pretty good. But overall, I went in with limited expectations. Now I know what it’s all about and I know what it takes to prepare for it, and I would definitely do it again next year.
And then back to the U.S. to race a modern Husky—but an old-school one with a 125 in the 125 Dream Race.
Well, I didn’t actually race it in the end. At Washougal it rained all day Saturday and part of the day Sunday. We had the Shift Holeshot Challenge on Saturday night, so I decided to save my bike for that. Then I rode a lap of practice on Sunday and the conditions were pretty bad. So I decided to just save the bike, it would have really been bad. So there you go. Two races and two complete mudders!
Have you ridden the Husky 125 in good conditions?
Yeah, I actually took it out the Wednesday before at Milestone. Super fun. Surprisingly good for a production bike. You put an FMF pipe and silencer on it and it sounds as good as any of my old race bikes. Now, granted, 22 years ago or so, but I was still really impressed. That’s the good thing about being with Husky now, you have the TC125 and TC250 two-strokes to choose from, and you know where I stand on the 125 and its role in the sport. It’s a very important bike to have available. I’m thinking that, if I take the time to get used to a 125 again, it might be the bike I pick to ride anytime I go out. We’ll see.
That’s great. It’s not like you’re spoiled now where a 125 feels too slow or anything.
There were a few jumps that were pretty hard to get at Milestone, but just like with the TC250 two-stroke, I just really enjoy riding them. There’s probably something with my instincts that lend itself to my riding style and a two-stroke. Maybe it’s just a novelty right now, I’m not sure. But the people are digging it. They love hearing the sounds of the two-strokes, the smell of pre-mix, and there’s probably a real nostalgia thing when people see a guy like me or anyone from my era riding one, it takes people back.
So at the Motocross of Nations, are you doing TV again?
Yeah, doing TV with Paul Malin and Lisa Leyland again. It’s a great crew. I decided to go in early. I’m flying to Milan tonight, I’ll spend the night at the airport, then I’ll go to Austria to meet with Husqvarna. And I was just over in England for the Vets race. That’s a bunch of travel, but at least I’m getting in my frequent flyer miles.
"If he can go in with the motivation and the drive and desire and determination, then he could probably be better than the riders who might have been on the list ahead of him who didn’t want to go."
Any thoughts on Team USA or predictions for the weekend?
Always, American fans just want to know if the American team has what it takes to win. It’s been up and down results here for a couple of years. One thing to consider is, even if this isn’t necessarily our A-team, we have enough depth where it’s still a great team. Even if some of the champions don’t ride, like someone like [Ryan] Dungey, we still have a good team.
And there have been some injuries on some of the other strong teams now, too.
Yeah, for example when you look at Italy, the host team, they have had problems building a team with three riders than can win. So when you look at that, we definitely have a team that can be in contention to win. But the main thing for me when I look at the team is, because of the depth we do have, I feel that if a rider doesn’t want to do the event, if he’s not completely dedicated and completely motivated to do it, if he feels obligated to go rather than wanting to do it, I have no problems with that rider stepping aside. I feel we have the depth of talent to where someone else can step in. Look at Jason Anderson. He’s got the talent, he’s got the fitness and everything. If he can go in with the motivation and the drive and desire and determination, then he could probably be better than the riders who might have been on the list ahead of him who didn’t want to go.
And he had time off this summer. He’s fresh.
Right, and that’s more important to me than maybe having the best team on paper. Not that I’m judging any of the riders who chose not to go. I’m just saying that desire, that aspect of it, to me, is paramount to how you determine who should go. I think we have a great team. I think Cooper Webb is about to show us that he’s a premier rider in the big class. I think Alex Martin has had a great summer and I can’t wait to see how he does on the international stage, and Anderson, as I mentioned, I think he will be especially motivated over there and I’m eager to see how he will do, too.
Anderson is new to this, Alex Martin rode for Team Puerto Rico but that obviously didn’t have the pressure that this does. Give people an idea of the pressure. Did this feel like any other race to you, or was it completely different?
Oh yeah, it feels completely different. To me it’s like no other race in the world. There are differences between racing supercross and motocross, and then there’s the Motocross of Nations. I always felt that, especially when we had the win streaks going and stuff, that everyone’s eyes were on you. If you were in the pit area or walking between the trucks, in the parc ferme [enclosed and secure area in the paddock] or even on the track, everyone was watching you. In my day, Team USA was the premiere team, and everyone was out there to beat us. Whether it’s true or not, each team wants to win the race and have their own individual result. But I always felt like the event was Team USA versus the world. Now, I’m not sure if Stefan Everts and Belgium felt that way, but it sure seemed that way to me. So it always felt like every country, no matter who it was, wanted to take you down.
I absolutely love the fact that you and Paul Malin get teamed up in the booth these days. Are you guys cool?
[Laughs] Oh yeah. I think we’ve beaten that horse to death, no doubt about it. We’re good, we’re past it. I’ve admitted it many times in the past that on that infamous day in Roggenburg, Switzerland, when our win streak ended, Paul Malin kicked my ass on that day and I had nothing for him. And I actually watched the race on YouTube a few months ago, and what’s even worse is I realized I had actually started ahead of him in both motos, so that made it even worse! I’m watching it back and realizing it’s even worse than I thought. But it’s great working with Paul these days. And the great thing about this year is that this the 30th anniversary of a very historic race where Team USA just dominated. I spent a lot of time with the owners of the track, Stefano [Avandero] and Paolo [Schneider], back in June. It’s an amazing facility, and they’re very motivated, passionate owners and promoters. I know this race means the world to them personally, and I think there’s going to be a lot of nostalgia involved. There’s going to be a tremendous list of past champions and great riders there, so I bet the atmosphere is going to be off the Richter scale. I’m really looking forward to it, it’s going to be a great weekend.
